Rugby: defence pattern

Players line up together along the line of the 1st set of cones. On the signal of the coach all the players advance to the 3rd set of cones (20 meters away), making sure they all keep together in a straight line. The players then retreat 10 meters to the 2nd set of cones, making sure they stay in line. From the 2nd set of cones the players then advance a further 20 metres to the 4th set of cones and then retreat 10 meters back, to the previous set of cones.

2 defenders work together to force 5 players to pass and work them towards touch.The golden rule is for them to keep their spacing even, ensure that the inside defender covers the outside defenders inside, and that they do not rush up to commit to the tackle, but hover across and "swim" past the passer to reach the next and the next attacker. If an attacker draws and passes so well that he then tries to block the defender, he needs to work hard and swim across that blocker to return to his defending role.

A drill to practice defending in wide channels.Set up a grid that is 40m wide and 20m long, with the 40m divided into a 25m channel (red to red cones) and a 15m channel (red to green cones).There are seven attackers (blue) and four defenders (red). Only two defenders are allowed in the 15m channel at a time.The seven attackers are trying to score against the defenders, they receive 5 points for scoring in the 25m channel and 10 points for scoring in the 15m channel. (Points system incentivises scoring in the wide channels)Every time the attack score they turn around and attack the other direction.PROGRESSION:Defenders can only enter the 15m channel when the ball is in that channel.

groups of 8 +.Cones Balls. Bibs 1. 1v1 in 5mx5m Grid.Players line up opposite eachother on a grid, Attacker has to score over the line (running for the corner), while the defender has to not let him/her score on the indside of him/her. Scoring around the outside is not bad. 2. Add a 2nd Attacker.This forces the defender when to make a decision to drift onto the outside attacker. If the defender pushes to ealry they score on the inside. Too late they score on the outside (Not the worst outcome). 3. Drop Out Touch. (Drift Focus) This game is a normal game of touch rugby, however whenever the attacker is touched the defender who touched him/her must run back too the try line and stay there until play has broken down.

3 attacks - 2 defenders Scrum half passes to first receiver of group of 3 3 attack 2 passing ball down line

1. Defensive Organisation 4 Defenders line up on the the cones. When coach goes to pass the ball, when hands are on the defenders get line speed, making lots of noise and staying connected. After each rep the players move along the cones back trackign until the reach the end, this is continuous. 2. 3 v 2 In a 5mx5m grid, 3 attackers attack 2 defenders.Same focus on the defence on when to drift or make the takle on attackers.Lots of communcitaion and line speed is key. 3. Kick out touch- Reduced Defence. A defending player kicks the ball from the back of the pithc to attacking team. Attacking team has more players than defensive system to induce a counter attack situation. Players will learn to fill space with fewer numbers aswell as being a good attacking practice identifying space and overlaps.

WHY?Put pressure on attacking side. Force ball back inside. More numbers in defence than attackers. WHEN?When the ball is at the edge of the field near 5m lines. Attackers playing close to the game line. HOW?Lead from Outside backs. Line up outside shoulder of attackers. Run Up and In. Fast Line speed. Stay connected to inside man. Resposible for the space inside you. Aim for Man&Ball hits or interceptions.

Drill to test defenders reactions to situations.Set up a 15m x 15m grid with 3 defenders (blue) and 4 attackers (red).All start on the side with the green cones, and jog towards the side with the red cones, defenders about 5m infront of the attackers.On the coaches call the defenders turn to defend and have to adjust to the attack.

5 attackers - 10 defenders (or 2 to 1 ratio dependent on numbers) Start slowly with ruck ball Defenders cannot steal ball Attackers recycle ball Defenders realign Coach calls tackle made Coach controls speed of ball available

Drill to practice defensive organisation when the kicker must put their teammates onside.Set up a grid roughly 30m long and 30m wide.Set up three players in a line out with a scrum half 2m away and a kicker roughly 10m away (red players).Roughly 20m along the touchline set up a group of players (blue) ready to receive the kick and counter attack.One player in the line out passes the ball down to the scrum half who passes to the kicker. The kicker kicks the ball upfield, and runs to chase. The players in the line out can only defend once the kicker has run past them.The group of players receiving the ball (blue) gather the ball and begin to counter attack, aiming to score on the try-line behind the defenders (yellow cones). The defenders must organise themselves to defend and stop the attack by making a two handed touch on the attacking ball carrier.PROGRESSION:Practice doing high kicks and long kicks to give the defending players an idea of how much time they will have to get organised.Overload the players receiving the ball (blue) to have more players than the defendersAllow the attack to offload instantly after the touch has been madeAllow the attack more than one phase to attack so the defence must practice re-organising after a breakdown.

4 Tackle Bags. 10 Cones and 1 Ball. 10m x 30m. The first player in the line begins with the ball. As he approaches the first cone and passes to player 2 who is supporting. Player 1 carries on their run and hits the tackle bag before running backwards to player 2 original position. Player 2 on receiving the ball passes the ball onto player 3 before hitting the tackle bag and back pedalling to player 3 original position. When the ball reaches player 5, that player side steps behind the others back to position 1 where the drill is repeated.

Set an area with two different coloured cones on the touch line in the middle, one for defenders and one for attackers. At the prompt of the coach the players run around designated cones and attack the defenders to score. Ball carrier should initiate the attack by attacking the inside shoulder of the first defender to stop a drift defence. Draw the first defender and make the pass to your next support runner who should do the same to pass to the outside runner who can go and score. Once attacked three or four times players should swap to defence but not every single time to create continuity and positive development.

<div class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Be brief when telling the players the laws of this game, it's important to get them moving quickly. </div> <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>This is not a contact game. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Break your players into two teams, giving each team their own colour of bibs if necessary. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>One team goes to attack, and one to defence. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Nominate a Scrum Half for each team. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>There is no kicking in this game. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Normal laws of rugby apply e.g. a forward pass will result in the ball being turned over to the opposition. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>If an attacking player is touched: they must go to ground, present the ball, two of their teammates ruck over (staying over the ball), and the Scrum Half moves the ball for the next phase of attack. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>When you start playing this game make sure that the defence is employing your defensive pattern around the ruck. As the game develops consider telling the defenders that they must have one or more players at the back of the ruck, if they are not fast enough to do this - push them back 10 meters. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>It’s important that defenders are employing their defensive pattern behind the primary defensive line. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Have attacking players do what they normally would at the ruck. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Depending on your goals decide on the number of touches you wish to allow e.g. unlimited is not a bad option as mistakes will be made! <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>When you feel the time is appropriate, usually during a ruck, blow you whistle and should FLIP IT – kicking in or throwing in a second ball to the back 3/2 defenders on the team currently in defence OR just kick it behind the defenders. The defensive team goes, without hesitation, into attack. The team that was attacking goes into defence and you or an assistant coach remove the other ball from play when you can. Ideally you might have two balls with different markings. <li class=&quot;&quot;&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&quot;&quot;>Don't hesitate to shape the game to focus on your session goals, and let us and other coaches know what worked for you!

The aim is to the defensive situation to keep changing the defence gets used to drifting or pressing. The aim of the attack is to realign using the full width, get the ball out of the breakdown quickly (no matter what position you play), seeing space, communicating options and reading the defence. Can be done with any number of players but best suited to around 7. You will need 7 cones, 1 ball, a 40 m area, attack of line and try line. Players passed the ball quickly down the line. When the ball gets halfway, the coach shouts out a number. Number reflects the number of defenders. The end player puts down the ball by pad, then the 2 defenders get onside (beyond defensive line) and defend against the other attackers. The defenders need to work together. Stay tight and use the sideline extra defender. Drifting from the inside and pushing up and out. Attack looks to use, player pace and beat the drift. Important defence talks and understand what they are doing in the changing circumstances. With 4 attackers and 3 defenders, defenders might look for a blitz defence or up then drift. Scrum-half can break so defence must defend at guard. Attack should be looking up and reading the situation. If we have an overlap then as a unit we must understand how to fix defenders. You must start to add a kicking option to advance the drill. 8 players, you can have a forward runner offering a shadow line of 10. He is involved in the passing down the line but is on a separate cone in the front of the 7. This fits in with the patterns and philosophy of attack. You might get the forward to press ups or other exercise to replicate fatigue.

Set up the practice as shown inside a 30m x 30m Grid. 6 Shields and 1 Ball. Player 1 carries the ball before passing the ball to player 2 who bursts through the shields. Once through the other side, 2 passes to 3 and receives a return pass before bursting through the next set of shields Once they are through the last two players with shields can move and try and block the runners. Player 2 has the option to pass to either player or go it alone.

This is a 3 v 2 attack v defence situation where the attacking team must make passing decisions to get past the defenders and 'score a try'.Set out a playing area of about 10m x 5mThree attackers and two defenders line up next to the coach in the middle of the sideline of the areaOn GO, the players run round their ends of the area and the coach passes to one of the three attackers - the 3 v 2 is liveAttackers must try to get to the defenders' back line

Using cones mark out the four corners and the midways points of each side of a 20 x 20 meter training area. Divide your players into groups of 8, and allocate one group of 8 to each training area. Have one coach at each training area, and one ball. Each player should have their own cone to stand on, as shown in the diagram. Have more than one training area in order to keep your players as busy as possible. Tell your players the following...... This will be a 5 v 3 attacking opportunity for the 5 players given the ball. There are 4 players on the midpoint positions, one on each side of the training area. The coach will give the ball to one of those players. The 4 closest players will join the ball carrier in attack, the opposite 3 players will become defenders. The try line is just across the defenders starting line. The defenders operate within the laws of the game and should try to stop the attack by turning the ball, forcing a mistake, or pushing the attack out of the playing area. The attack should aim to score a try, but should play within the laws of the game. When the attack is over the coach will take the ball and players should return to their starting positions for the next attack. Don't forget to give every player the opportunity to play in attack and defence by changing the starting position of the ball.

2 Teams.Half Pitch.Touch Game with conditions; Attacker once touched must go down, bounce back up and drive into defender, then perform a long place. While all defenders retreat 3m and hit the floor and bounce back up again before continuing play.

Get all players into teams of 3 One group of 3 with bibs start as defenders  In a 10mx10m grid - the other groups line up either side of the grid as attackers. Split evenly. The defenders work together to stop the attacking side scoring and getting through  After a tackle is made or a try is scored, the attacking team pop the ball off to a team on the other side of the grid who attack straight away Defending side need to react and realign quickly to stop the next team from scoring Start as shoulder on and then can progress to full contact Defence works for 1 minute and then change Competition - Team with the least tries scored against them wins

The following are the laws for this game: Normal laws of rugby apply; a knock on etc. results in a turn over. The attacking team gets 8 touches before the ball has to be turned over. Change this to suit your training goals. It would be ok to have unlimited touches, changing the defence and attack after a set period of time. A player is touched only when the defender has made a two handed touch, you can change this to one hand if you wish. Defenders cannot hold the attacker, nor can the attacker use significant force to push through defenders. Defenders who make a touch run to the furthest in goal area and back before being back to re-join the defensive line. You will find that several defenders will be making their way forward and back at any given time. If an attacking player is touched while in posession of the ball: they stop, set the ball down, stand over it, and the scrum half is allowed to move the ball again to restart the attack. The defence must remain onside following a touch. Only when the support player passes the ball out can the defence press up on the attack. If the defence goes offside or operates illegally, the attack gains 10 meters. Don't forget to switch the teams around. Tries only, no conversions - keep the game tempo high. There is no kicking.